An O’Bservation from Toobworld Central….
The July 2024 entry into the Television Crossover Hall of Fame had been penciled in since the year began, as a tribute to an actor whom we lost within the last year. But we kept losing more who also qualified for membership and it was weighing heavily on my poor excuse for a mind. Plus, because of some of those memorial ceremonies and a few specials which always come up in June, my birth month for this year probably holds the record for the most inductions in a month. Imagine how much work there would have been if I was still doing the Friday induction ceremonies!
On July 1st, Martin Mull’s memorial TVXOHOF tribute was posted and I could easily have just let that serve as the July showcase. But I wanted to provide something for the month in which the Hall usually salutes detectives. And in order to lighten the mood, at least between my ears (Mull’s passing was a real downer for me), I decided to propose a candidate who does detective work, and on several TV series which are mysteries.
Submitted without approval….
THE FINDER-SPYDER SEARCH ENGINE
From Wikipedia:
Finder-Spyder is a fictional Web search engine that appears in numerous television shows, used in the same manner as the fictitious 555 telephone number in TV and film. It has been called "an unofficial, open source stand-in for Google and its competitors" (used as a legality-free alternative to a brand-name product), and "the most popular search engine in the TV universe." Finder-Spyder appears as a top 10 pick in "best fictional brand" lists by various online media, along with Oceanic Airlines, Morley cigarettes, Acme Corporation, and others.
From the 'Journeyman' Wiki:
Finder-Spyder is a popular stand-in recently for real search engines. It has appeared in episode eight of ‘Moonlight’ (though with a different logo), in the pilot episode of ‘Prison Break’ as well as season three episode 10 and season four episode 5, also in episodes of ‘CSI’ ("Time of Your Death" May 4, 2006) and in at least one episode of ‘Hidden Palms’ ("Party Hardy" June 13, 2007) and at least one episode of ‘Without a Trace’ ("Baggage" October 25, 2007). It has also featured in the series ‘Dexter’ and ‘Breaking Bad’. Also appears on ‘Touch’. ("Eye to Eye", Mar. 1, 2013)
From Mashable:
Supposedly, it is the only website to hold a place on the Wikipedia category of "Fictional Brands," which includes icons such as Oceanic Airlines and Duff Beer.
Most Finder Spyder usage on popular shows was pre-2010. Only a handful of lesser-known, less-long-running shows (‘Touch’, ‘Bosch’, and ‘The Finder’ among them) used Finder Spyder in the 2010s, so the searches don't rise up much.
That strange little blip in 2016, however, directly lines up with the first episode of the tenth season of ‘The X-Files’, where Scully used lil' ol' Finder Spyder to search for Tad O'Malley.
So let’s put together a list of Finder-Spyder’s appearances in Toobworld. Maybe we can get some help from Finder-Spyder itself….
O’Bservation:
You’ll notice that there will be a variety of homepage variations from show to show, especially when it comes to the company logo and even some difference in the name of the search engine itself. In fact, in its very first appearance it is known as “Spyder-Finder”. Splainin to do? O’Bviously, the search engine was still in its beta-testing stage. This may affect the placement of these appearances despite when they were broadcast.
Here are the shows I’ve been able to find online, thanks to far more dedicated Finder-Spyder Finders than me.
PRISON BREAK
PILOT (29 Aug 2005)
O’Bservation:
I’m not going to go looking for this episode. Mashable did the work so I already know that Wikipedia is wrong about Finder-Spyder being in the pilot.
From Mashable:
According to its own Wikipedia page, the earliest use of Finder Spyder was in the 2005 pilot episode of ‘Prison Break’. Finder Spyder's actual first appearance isn't until the 17th episode of ‘Prison Break’, which aired in early 2006.
1] J-CAT (10 Apr 2006)
From Mashable:
Used by LJ Burrows to search "O.Kravecki, Chicago" in order to find more about agent Paul Kellerman.
2] UNEARTHED (30 Oct 2006)
From Mashable:
Used by Michael Scofield to search information about Alexander Mahone.
3] DIRT NAP (21 Jan 2008)
From Mashable:
Used by Lincoln Burrows to search the name Gary Miller.
4] SAFE AND SOUND (22 Sep 2008)
From Mashable:
Used by Sara Tancredi to search "Laos" to find out more about a person named Lisa Tabak who took a plane there.
5] THE LEGEND (10 Nov 2008)
O'Bservation:
While these may have been the first appearances on TV for Finder-Spyder, it did not happen on Earth Prime-Time. The main Toobworld must always have the same President and Vice-President as we have on Earth Prime. (There's a lot of leeway when it gets down to Senators, Congressmen, Governors, and Mayors... except for New York city.)
And with 'Prison Break,' the plot hinges on one of the two main characters being accused of murdering the brother of the Vice- Preisent, Carolyn Reynolds. The only female Vice President we've had so far has been Kamala Harris.
GENERAL HOSPITAL
O’Bservations:
I didn’t find many pictures, but at least Mashable provided a good list of examples:
- Used by Nikolas Cassadine to look up "Rachel and Baxter Corbin"
- Used by Rachel Berlin to "find out what comes up when you type in 'Naomi Dreyfus'."
- Used by Elizabeth Webber to find out who "Amy Dreyfus" is.
- Used by Ava Jerome to look up unethical doctors who perform plastic surgery
- Used by Curtis Ashford to look up "Peter August birth records"
Plus
- Used to discover who “The Balkan” is. (2010-2011)
- Used by Anna Devane to search for “Henrik Faison”, but the screen comes up blank. (2018)
- Used by Spencer to search for "Maggie Fitzgerald, London" when he is interrupted by Esme. (2022)
Since the search engine appears as SpyderFinder, either all of these appearances have to take place before 2006 or the company was celebrating its roots yet again.
JOURNEYMAN
1] A LOVE OF A LIFETIME (2007)
2] GAME THREE (2007)
3] THE YEAR OF THE RABBIT (2007)
4] THE LEGEND OF DYLAN McCLEEN (2007)
From the 'Journeyman' Wiki:
Finder-Spyder is the Internet search engine Dan Vasser uses in the PILOT episode "A Love for a Lifetime" to look up Neil Gaines, in "Game Three" to look up the details of the attorney Alan Pratt as well for Melissa Waters' death in "The Year of the Rabbit". He later uses it to find information on Dylan McCleen in "The Legend of Dylan McCleen".
When he's in the present, Dan can access Finder-Spyder on his iPhone, but in the 1990s or earlier in the past, Dan obviously cannot access this Internet-based service because it was before either the Internet or the search engine existed.
On ‘Journeyman’, the name "Finder-Spyder" is an amalgam for the Google and Web Crawler online search engines. Some have speculated that its name also alludes to the Lexis-Nexis search service, which would be a more useful and detailed service for a reporter to be using.
From Mashable:
Finder Spyder made four consecutive appearances in science-fiction television series, ‘Journeyman’, from late September through October of 2007.
According to TechRepublic, ‘Journeyman’'s usage of Finder Spyder is particularly daring, because it uses the same color-scheme as Google. On their trademark page, Google very explicitly states: "Don't copy or imitate Google's trade dress, including the look and feel of Google web design properties or Google brand packaging, distinctive color combinations, typography, graphic designs, product icons, or imagery associated with Google."
‘Journeyman’ is also the only show with a wiki that has a page for Finder Spyder. The show itself did not have high ratings, but apparently, it had the kind of fans who would take notice of a fake search engine.
CROSSING JORDAN
HUBRIS (March 2007)
HIDDEN PALMS
PARTY HARDY (June 2007)
MOONLIGHT
"12:04 AM" (16 Nov 2007)
BREAKING BAD
O’Bservation:
Skyler uses Finder-Spyder's Phone Trace feature to do a reverse lookup to discover the identity of the caller behind a suspicious call.
WITHOUT A TRACE
1] "Baggage" (25 Oct
2007)
2] "Cloudy with a Chance of
Gettysburg" (16 Dec 2008)
CRIMINAL MINDS
1] ZOE’S REPRISE (Feb 2009)
2] PLEASURE IS MY BUSINESS (Feb 2009)
3] HOPELESS (Oct 2009)
4] CRADLE TO THE GRAVE (21 Oct 2009)
5] "100" (Nov 2009)
HUNG
Pilot (28 Jun 2009)
O’Bservation:
This appearance was probably the best one of all! LOL
WEEDS
WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS (20 Jul
2009)
HEROES
HYSTERICAL BLINDNESS (12 Oct
2009)
O'Bservation:
This may be set on an alternate Toobworld. It's been a while since I've seen it and I can't remember if there were too many drastic differences with the real world which couldn't be covered up.
HOMELAND
CLEAN SKIN (16 Oct. 2011)
O’Bservation:
1] I was misled by Mashable and a Finder-Spyder Fanom Wiki – turns out that the appearance is in the third episode, not the second.
2] This was my third favorite use after the ones from 'Hung' and ‘Southland’. I like a challenge. This reminded me of finding "Nina" in Hirschfeld drawings.
3] Because the President was eventually revealed to be Elizabeth Keane, this has to be set on an alternate Toobworld.
THE FINDER
EYE OF THE STORM (8 Mar 2012)
SOUTHLAND
SALLY IN THE ALLEY (9:48) (29 Mar
2012)
O’Bservation:
I thought this would be another example where I couldn’t find the search engine. But it was cleverly hidden as the URL for Finder-Spyder’s video section. The cop called it “YouTube”, but he was using a copyrighted term in a generic sense, something we all do with words like “Xerox” and “Kleenex”.
TOUCH
1] SAFETY IN THE NUMBERS (29 Mar 2012)
2] EYE TO EYE (1 Mar 2013)
3] CLOCKWORK (29 Mar 2013)
BONES
THE GEEK IN THE GUCK (2014)
From Mashable:
"The Best Search Engine on the Web," [is] used by teenage boys in search of porn.
O’Bservation:
Because the name is listed as “Spyder-Finder”, this episode’s placement should have been placed higher but that would have caused Zonks. So instead I knew I "got some splainin to do."
When we saw the Finder-Spyder screen in the episode as Spyder-Finder, that was the day the search engine company must have been celebrating another anniversary. And to mark the occasion, Finder-Spyder took on its original appearance, in much the same way as McDonald’s reverting to their original prices for a day to celebrate.
BOSCH
2] BOOK OF THE UNCLAIMED DEAD (13 Apr
2018)
THE X-FILES
MY STRUGGLE (2016)
O’Bservation:
She gets the same annoying pop-up ad that Skylar White got eight years earlier in the ‘Breaking Bad’ episode.
BREAKING BAD
THE X-FILES
I've got a request for Team Toobworld....
I have been unable to get Finder-Spyder screen grabs from the following:
- 'Crossing Jordan' - "Hubris"
- 'Hidden Palms' - "Party Hardy"
- 'Moonlight' - "12:04 AM"
- 'Touch' - "Safety In The Numbers", "Eye To Eye", and "Clockwork".
I don’t know if Finder-Spyder will ever show up again in one of the dimensions in the greater TV Universe. In the last few years, various TV shows have been having fun with creating their own search engines: In Telemerica, there’s Chum Hum, Searchling, Searchies, but elsewhere in Toobworld, there's Browzee (Ireland), SearchWebnet (Isle of St. Marie), SirCheazy (Wildemarsh, England), Lookee (New Zealand).
Because of all those other rivals (with probably more to come), it looks like Finder-Spyder’s dominance in the number of separate appearances will never be equaled.
Welcome to the Television Crossover Hall of Fame, Finder-Spyder.
Awwwww.... Bless your heart!
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